Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy: Simply the world’s most beautiful winter playground in the Alps

Nowhere is more picturesque than chic Cortina, the most up market of Italian resorts. Dramatic pink-tinged peaks rise sheerly from the top of the slopes, giving picture-postcard views from wherever you are.

Magnificently situated in a sunny amphitheater, it is ringed by spectacular peaks which rise nearly 3000 meters above the village.

Cortina’s slopes are fine for its regular upmarket visitors from Rome and Milan, many of whom have second homes here and enjoy the strolling, shopping, people-watching and lunching as much as the odd leisurely excursion on to the slopes. For beginners and leisurely intermediates, the splendid beginner slopes and long, easy, well-groomed runs are ideal. For keen slope-bashers, Cortina’s fragmented areas can be frustrating, especially if snow is scarce and the area is fragmented even more; but the access to the Sella Ronda and other Dolomiti Super-ski resorts, though time-consuming, is some compensation – having a car is best for exploring. For experts, there are few tough runs, and the best of those are liable to poor snow conditions and closure because they face south.

Cortina has offered a complete range of winter sports facilities since hosting the Olympic Games in 1956.In Cortina, life centers around the Corso, a traffic-less, shop-lined street where the late afternoon passeggiata proceeds without fail.

You can browse and see the latest winter fashion, as well as purchase a gift from one of the many antique and craft shops.At the heart of the Corso is a central piazza, a church with towering campanile, and the interesting Regole Museum.

Excursions to Venice, Plan de Coranes/Brunico and Pieve di Cadare are available locally. Cortina also hosts World Cup events in mid-January, bobsled races and a horse show on snow. At night, enjoy one of Cortina’s exclusive nightclubs and discos.